This week's posting has been winnowed by a killer combination of my MidPoint Music Festival judging duties and a long holiday weekend, so try to contain your disappointment at the shortage of reviews. This week I tackle new releases from Michelle Shocked, Viva Voce, Maurice Mattei & the Tempers, Chris Gaffney, Dave Alvin & the Guilty Women and Hatcham Social.  

We’ve all seen the bumper sticker: a simplistic drawing of a baby chicken above the words “Chicks Rock.” Well, that statement couldn’t be truer in the case of Lisa Walker and Margaret Darling, the female faces behind local bands Wussy and The Seedy Seeds, respectively.  

As I looked at the calendar recently, considering the dozens of ways I might disappoint my wife on our 25th wedding anniversary this summer, I was struck by a rather startling revelation. I realized that the year we were married was the same year that I started writing about Cincinnati music.   

With an idea to do something distinctly different, A Day to Remember assembled six years ago from the ashes of a variety of other bands in the flourishing Metal/Punk scene around Ocala, Fla.  

Maybe The Ramones said it best on the seventh track of their 1976 debut album: “Hey daddyo/I don’t wanna go down/To the basement/There’s somethin’ down there.” Imagine the place these primal punks were conjuring up: A damp, dimly lit underground room in an ancient house with a low-hung ceiling.  

The final deadline to be considered for a performance slot at this year’s MidPoint Music Festival (returning to Downtown this Sept. 24-26) is Friday, May 1. Get thee to mpmf.com to submit. There have also been a couple of other MPMF09 developments. The first performer for the fest has been announced — ex-Drive-By Trucker Jason Isbell and his band the 400 Unit  

The titles are stacking up like cordwood here in April, and rolling the weekly excess into the following posting seems less like a solution and more like stockpiling. This week I tackle new CDs from Scott Miller, Willie Nile, Fastball, Circus Devils, Silversun Pickups, John Doe and the Sadies, The Tragically Hip, The Ettes, Alexis Harte and Eulogies, plus classic vinyl from Tucky Buzzards.  

More than 8,000 locals are expected at the 39th annual Cincinnati Earth Day celebration, one of the city’s top outdoor festivals and a tribute to all things green and eco-friendly. Performances include native flute music by Janice Tryten, contemporary Folk music by Wild Carrot and the Roots Band and Jamgrass music by the Rumpke Mountain Boys. Other attractions include live animal shows by the Cincinnati Zoo and Sunrock Farm, a recycled costume contest for kids and local environmental awards presented by Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory.   

The story of how Meg and Dia Frampton became Pop/Punk crunchmeisters has more twists and turns than an upside down roller coaster.  

The unofficial local holiday known as Opening Day (referring to Cincinnati’s pro baseball team’s first game, for you non-sporto types) has had its pre-game parade for 90 years. But local folksinger Jake Speed has started what has become a new Opening Day tradition.